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Plane found submerged in Japan may be US WWII fighter

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From Stripes.com

Fujio Sakoda, 80, seen here on his boat earlier this month, still fishes the waters near his Amami-Oshima island home where he spotted what is believed to be an American bomber from World War II. The bomber lies upside down in 150 feet of water. It is unknown if the pilot is still inside, but Sakoda hopes that the U.S. government will investigate. Courtesy of Ikuo Sakoda

Plane found submerged in Japan may be US WWII fighter

He was spearfishing in 1987 in the fertile grounds between Amami-Oshima and Kakeromajima islands in Kagoshima prefecture. A fish escaped, so he chased it into the depths.

“Suddenly there was a huge object in front of me,” he said recently from his Amami-Oshima home, which lies between mainland Japan and Okinawa. “I was shocked because I thought it was a shark, but after taking a closer look … I realized that it was a plane.”

Sakoda couldn’t see inside the cockpit because the plane was upside down, but even with the tail missing, he was convinced it was a World War II-era American fighter. It was otherwise intact with four propellers, and he could see the underside of the wings.